


A present you can't wrap

by CaptainGlitch



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Happy Birthday Adora!, Romance, Some Dumb Ideas, This hasn't been beta read...I'm living on the edge (?), This is like some hours late but at least I tried ;w;
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 05:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17482124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainGlitch/pseuds/CaptainGlitch
Summary: It was just a matter of time before Glimmer and Bow decided to hold a birthday party for Adora. That also meant Glimmer needed to find a good birthday present for Adora.





	A present you can't wrap

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn’t going to write anything for ~~today’s international holiday~~ Adora’s birthday... but then I couldn’t get this idea out of my head and decided that if I could write it in less than 3 hours I should totally post it...  
> So... hope ya enjoy something that I had stuck in my head for 2 days and then wrote in 3 hours!! :D

After Adora experienced what a Birthday Party was, she was pretty excited to have one of her own.

Since she seemed to enjoy Glimmer and Bow’s respective birthday parties even more than Glimmer and Bow themselves, it was just a matter of time before they both decided to hold a birthday party for Adora.

But asking for her birthdate might be a weird question and it might even cause distress for Adora if she happened to not know the date.

So they just presented her with the idea and asked her to choose a date to become her official “birthday party” date.

“Choose a date.”

“January 19th,” Adora replied without missing a beat. It was almost as if she had chosen a date at random. But since Adora looked so sure and serious, Glimmer and Bow decided to start working in the birthday preparations immediately.

They had barely a month to prepare but Bow liked the challenge and even if Glimmer wasn’t that confident in her abilities to organize a big party on such short notice she wasn’t going to back down. She was going to do her best and think about the consequences later.

 

* * *

 

Glimmer’s party had been a big celebration, but Adora’s party would be an even bigger event.

People from all the kingdoms in the Princess Alliance had agreed to join the celebration and help organize the event. After all, they wanted to give something back to Adora who had been helping the kingdoms so much since joining the rebellion.

Bow was very pleased to know that Adora’s first birthday party would be a big celebration to remember.

 

* * *

 

 

“What can I get Adora for her birthday?”

The Royal Meeting Room, where the War Meetings usually happened, had been turned into the Party Organization Room. That morning it had been filled with people talking and planning but at the moment only Glimmer and Bow remained in the room.

“We can share my present, tell her it’s from both of us, I don’t think Adora would mind,” Bow suggested, while lifting up said present, a plush horse he had sewn for Adora.

“I know she wouldn’t, but I would.” Glimmer slumped against the table and sighed.

“Did you have anything in mind for a present?” Bow asked while carefully placing the horse in a box and wrapping it with colorful papers, the rest of the unused paper lied scattered through the table in front of him.

“I want to give her something special, something she can carry around with her, like a memento of her first birthday party ever...”

A pendant or a bracelet sounded too corny and she wasn’t sure Adora would even like wearing jewelry. A suit of armor sounded too flashy. A sword would be unnecessary since Adora already had the sword of protection so any other weapon might fall short.

There was also the fact that Mermista was already planning on giving Adora a knife as a present. Salineas’ knifes were famous for being crafted with beautiful seashells that shone like the sea on a sunny day and were as sharp as Photanium, the strongest known metal in Etheria.

That was definitely some tough competition for any weapon Glimmer might want to give to Adora.

Clothes didn’t seem like the best option either, specially cause Perfuma had let her know that her present would be an embroidered cloak made by herself along with other fine artisans from Plumeria. Glimmer could try her best to get something as close to the soft fabrics of plumerian clothing and she would still fall short.

She hadn't talked to Frosta or Spinerella and Nettossa, but they would most likely prepare great presents as well and Glimmer had no idea if she could find a present that could compete with the other ones.

“Sounds like you’re thinking way too much about this,” Bow concluded while finishing tying a bow with ribbon.

Glimmer just groaned.

 

* * *

 

 

“We have to make sure the Horde doesn’t attack during the party.”

“We could reinforce security. With the help of all the kingdoms in the princess alliance I’m sure it won’t be hard to get a decent number of guards from different kingdoms,” Bow reasoned out loud.

“Or I could do something really stupid and reckless...” Glimmer trailed off while a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

“Glimmer...?” Bow was almost scared to know what Glimmer had in mind.

“I could send Catra a letter...” Glimmer blurted and then teleported away, as if to distance herself a bit from her own idea and not really out of fear of Bow’s reaction.

“Glimmer!” Bow’s voice cracked and he turned towards his friend expecting Glimmer to be joking but she seemed to be actually weighing the thought.

“Glimmer, no! That is a terrible idea; it would be almost like inviting her to attack us on _that_ day!”

“But what if she thinks this is a trap and decides to not attack? You gotta admit receiving a letter asking her _not_ to attack on that particular date would throw her off her game.” The more Glimmer thought about it the more it looked like a calculated risk and less of an irrational whim.

“We don’t know that.”

“We could give it a try.”

“This plan is so stupid.”

“And that is why it might work!”

Bow opened his mouth to say something but realized mid-way that he wasn’t going to convince Glimmer anyway. He might as well just go with the flow and focus on more pressing stuff... like the party they were currently organizing.

There was a chance (however slim), that Glimmer would see how stupid her plan was and forget about it, but there wasn’t really a lot Bow could do to stop her anyway.

He was better off not knowing what Glimmer might end up doing.

 

* * *

 

 

The letter in Catra’s hand was beyond crumpled. It was only natural after the way Catra had been tossing and throwing the piece of paper around.

“Are you sure you don’t want to plan an attack for that date?” Scorpia questioned. Catra looked restless as she sat in some raised pipes in Entrapta’s lab.

“I should!... I should order an attack on Bright Moon right now simply for the audacity of this... this _princess_ ,” Catra hissed crumpling the letter once more and throwing it to the floor.

Scorpia picked the paper and tried to straighten it again with her big claws.

“Who the heck does she think she is?” Even if Catra meant it as a rhetorical question she got an answer from Entrapta.

“The princess of Bright Moon!” She replied without taking her eyes away from the piece of machinery she was currently welding.

Catra stared with annoyance at Entrapta only to sigh dramatically after having her murder glare ignored.

“It would be so easy to get together a small strike team and do some damage to the Princess Alliance while they’re distracted,” Scorpia reasoned as she gave the wrinkled letter back to Catra.

“You’re right, it would be easy, so, so easy... and that’s why we won’t do a thing,” Catra answered while staring dully at the sparkly handwriting in the paper.

“What do you mean?”

“It would be boring to take them down while they’re distracted, I want them to be prepared for me. I want to prove I can take them down without any handicap,” Catra replied in a small voice and then laid down on the pipes as if bringing their conversation to an end.

Scorpia wasn’t sure Catra was telling them all the truth, but to be honest, the letter made her so confused. This could be equal parts a trap or an honest request to cease fire for a day.

Calling out bluffs wasn’t one of Scorpia’s forts, she took everything at face value. So she didn’t feel qualified to go against Catra’s decision anyways.

So it was decided they wouldn’t attack Bright Moon on the 19th, but was Catra gonna be okay?

The letter explained something about hosting a party on that day, a party for Adora. Was Catra really going to let this opportunity slip because it was _‘too easy’_? Or was it actually because Catra wanted to stay away from anything that had to do with Adora?

“Hey, how about we make a party of our own?”

Even when Catra acted like she wasn’t paying attention, her ears perked at the suggestion.

“Our own party, you say?” Entrapta seemed automatically intrigued, her eyes focused on Scorpia.

“I know the Horde doesn’t really do parties, but my parents do, we could use the castle’s ballroom... get some nice food... a little bit of music...” Scorpia planned out loud, outright trying to garner a reaction out of Catra. But the cat-girl remained expressionless.

“Yes! And I can run another social experiment... it will be EPIC!”

Catra sent a sideway glance towards Scorpia and Entrapta, who seemed to be already on the process of planning what could be their very own celebration.

“Have fun with your private party,” Catra commented jumping down from the pipes and getting ready to leave the lab.

“Hold on, you are absolutely coming to the party,” Scorpia declared with an excited laugh.

“What? Why?”

“We never really got a chance to dance during Princess Prom and I’m not letting this chance slip.”

“Uggghhhhh, seriously?”

“This is going to be the best day ever!” Entrapta almost yelled pumping her fists in the air and clutching her recorder in one of her hands.

And Scorpia’s smile was so big and mirthful... Catra could leave the lab but she wasn’t sure she would have an easy time convincing them to drop the idea now that they had gotten this excited. They probably would keep pestering her about the party till she yielded.

It was way easier to just go with the flow now instead of getting trampled over by her excited friends later on... _probably_.

“ _Fine!_ ”

 

* * *

 

 

The party had lasted well into the night and the whole celebration had mostly died out when Glimmer and Bow decided to bring Adora to one of Bright Moon Castle gardens so Bow could give Adora his present.

She was still carrying the other princesses’ gifts around (she had been doing that since she received them hours ago and refused to put them down by now), but the moment Bow offered his gift to her, Adora lowered some of the things in her hands to receive the rainbow colored box.

Adora didn’t want to tear the colorful packaging so she took extra minutes carefully removing the paper covering the box. Bow almost had a cardiac arrest during those slow moments and Glimmer did her best to support and reassure him while being intrigued by the reaction Adora would have to the present.

But once the lid was off, Bow felt a wave of relief wash over him. Adora’s breath hitched (and so did Bow’s) the moment her gaze fell on the white horse with orange mane inside the box.

She looked just like the first time she had seen a horse; eyes sparkly and mouth agape, while her hand hovered over the horse’s head, with hesitance to touch its beautifully crafted head.

It was hard for Glimmer to stay upset for not getting Adora a present when she saw just how excited she could be for the simplest things.

Also seeing the relief in Bow’s face was nice. While Glimmer had been stressed about the whole party, Bow had been stressing over his present, no matter how brilliant his idea to make a plush horse for Adora was.

After a while of hanging around the garden, sitting in the grass and talking about the party, Bow yawned and stood up.

“Well, guys, it has been a long day, I’m going to sleep,” he announced. They bid him goodnight and only then did Glimmer notice how tired she was herself.

“We should go to sleep too,” she said after their friend left.

“I know, but I want to stay here a bit longer. I just don’t want this day to end yet,” Adora muttered with a cute, small smile while playing absentmindedly with the horse Bow had given her. There was this implicit request for Glimmer to stay with her a bit longer. Glimmer’s tiredness evaporated in an instant.

“Have you decided how to name your horse?”

“Not really, I don’t know a lot about horse names,” Adora confessed looking at the soft plushie in her hands intently.

She had named Swift Wind ‘Horsey’ and the talking horse had made sure to let her know how stupid the name was as soon as he could. So she didn’t feel too qualified to name her plush horse, even if this one was less likely to let her know if the name she chose was bad.

“How about ‘Spirit’?

“Spirit?”

“I used to read stories about a hero and her beloved steed’s name was Spirit,” Glimmer explained with a shrug. Adora’s eyes shone with even more admiration.

“Spirit,” she repeated while lifting the horse overhead and looking at it under the moonlight with far more reverence than it deserved. There was no need for Adora to say anything else. It was evident enough that the name had been approved and the efforless ease of the whole situation made Glimmer's heart beat a bit faster.

After that they remained in silence, Adora thumbing the horse’s mane absentmindedly and Glimmer looking at her from the corner of her eye while playing with the grass.

“Adora, why did you choose this date for your birthday?” Glimmer asked out of the blue so she didn’t expect to get an immediate reply.

“Because it was the day I found the sword, the day I met you and Bow,” Adora answered without looking at Glimmer, she wasn’t even looking at her presents. She was just looking up at the darkened empty sky.

Adora was very good at remembering dates, so the answer shouldn’t have surprised Glimmer... but it did. Because it was something so unexpectedly endearing it made Glimmer feel bad for not remembering the date herself.

“It felt like from that day on I completely changed from the person I was before, like I was reborn, so it felt appropriate,” Adora added looking down at the presents in her hands.

That was a very deliberate answer, more thought out than she had ever expected. Not because Adora wasn’t thoughtful, but mainly because Glimmer didn’t expect this to be the kind of things Adora spent her time mulling over.

This seemed to be moving in the direction of a serious conversation and Glimmer wasn’t quite prepared to handle the flood of emotion that it might bring, spacially not after how tired she was from the party preparations and the celebration. A topic change was in order so that Glimmer didn’t put her foot in her mouth and ruin the mood.

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t get you a present,” she said looking at Adora’s arms, filled with the gifts she still refused to put down. “If there’s anything you want I can get it for you as a late birthday present, though.”

“Glimmer, are you kidding me? You gave me my first birthday party, that’s a good enough present for me.” Adora’s smile tugged something in Glimmer’s chest. It made her feel incredibly bashful.

“It wasn’t only me—”

 “You gave me that giant chocolate cake and let me ate all the slices I wanted,” Adora licked her lips, most likely reminiscing about the taste of all that cake she got to eat.

“I didn’t prepare the cake, I just asked the cooks to bake it—”

“And that cool piñata that I broke and lots of candy fell from it?”

“That was made by the people of Thaymor, they were more than happy to do it for you when I asked...”

“You gave me a name for Spirit.”

“I don’t think you can count that as a present at all.”

“My point is, I feel like you’ve given me so much already, I couldn’t really ask anything of you,” Adora assured. “If anything I should be the one asking you what you want.”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t give you any birthday present either,” Adora admitted looking guiltily at her own presents.

“Adora, you don’t need to give me anything, your friendship is enough!” While talking, Glimmer placed a hand in Adora’s shoulder and looked for her eyes.

“It’s the same for me, I don’t really think I deserve all the things you’ve given me, even your friendship is more than I could ask for,” Adora assured unconsciously clutching the presents in her arms closer to her chest. 

"Even if you think like that I still want to give you something," Glimmer replied stubbornly. A selfish part of her wanted to give Adora a present only to see her hold it tightly in her arms like she was grasping the rest of her gifts.

"Fine, I'll tell you what I want after you tell me what you want," Adora answered with a cheeky smile.

"I've told you already, your friendship is enough!"

"Then I'll be your present!" In an instant, Adora put aside all the presents in her arms and surrounded Glimmer with her arms, hugging her tightly and restricting the girl's movements.

But that wasn't the only effect Adora's arms had on Glimmer. This whole situation was so ridiculous and endearing, Glimmer's heart was very close to going into overdrive.

"You still haven't told me what you want as a present."

"I want whatever you want to give me."

This gave Glimmer an idea.

"Alright, close your eyes and let me turn around." Glimmer couldn't see Adora's face but she felt the way the arms surrounding her slackened their hold on her.

So she turned around and decided to take a chance. After all the chances she had taken while organizing the party this one didn't seem like much.

“Happy birthday, Adora," she whispered before placing a quick kiss in Adora's lips.

During several moments Adora remained with her eyes closed and Glimmer waited expectantly for a reaction. The blush spreading through Adora's cheeks seemed like a good sign so far.

"I thought you wanted to be friends," Adora whispered opening her eyes shyly.

"Kissing doesn't mean we have to stop being friends, it just means we can be a bit closer now," Glimmer explained bashfully.

"That sounds like an awesome present," Adora murmured dazedly.

Glimmer let out a soft laugh laced with relief.

"The bestest present."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Love this? Hate this? Let me know your thoughts! (either here or at twitter/tumblr, if that's more your thing).  
> I have so many unfinished stories for spop so you can be sure this won't be the last thing i do (my artblog is a testament of how much she-ra has taken over my brain :P)  
> Anyway! I'll check this later for any mistakes and typos but I'll be eternally thankful if ya let me know about any you find  
> Take care, guys!


End file.
